Texans Morning Huddle: ESPY nominations, Who Will Return Kicks?

Happy Friday to you Texans fans! I hope today is a great one for each and every one of you. Today’s ‘Morning Huddle’ includes a look at the quarterback issue and sees how Drew Dougherty from the Houston Texans website answers some burning fan questions.

Breakfast: J.J. Watt up for 2 ESPYs – by Deepi Sidhu

"ESPN announced its nominees for the 2015 ESPYs on Wednesday, and J.J Watt has a chance to potentially garner a pair of the sports awards next month.The two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year has been nominated for an ESPY in two categories.Watt is up for Best Male Athlete alongside Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers), and Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers).The three-time All-Pro is also a nominee for Best NFL Player along with Tom Brady (New England Patriots), Antonio Brown (Pittsburgh Steelers), DeMarco Murray (Philadelphia Eagles), and Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers)."

Houston Texans Back-Up Plan: Quarterback – by Michael Mull of 247Sports.com

"What We KnowWe don’t know a lot about Savage but we know how he played in college and he has at least seen limited in-game action in the NFL. He had a great freshman campaign at Rutgers before succumbing to injury. H eventually ended up at the University of Pittsburgh after losing his starting job at Rutgers and transferring from Arizona. He had a stellar 2013 season at Pitt passing for 2,958 yards and 21 touchdowns which garnered the attention of NFL scouts. We have less to go on when it comes to NFL playing time. So far he is 10 of 19 for 127 yards and one interception. His QB rating in the NFL is 51.9. In games he has looked like we would expect from an inexperienced QB – flashes of talent but he also has seemed rushed, unsure, and inexperienced. The sample size of his body of work is too small to say for sure, but he hasn’t been a game breaker thus far.What We Still Aren’t Sure OfAt this point we aren’t really sure about many things regarding Savage. The main issue with Savage is that he is an inexperienced quarterback. There are two ways to look at his stats so far. First, we can attribute it to rookie nerves and a lack of experience. Second, we could infer that maybe he is a decent NFL backup, simply not ready to be the guy under center, or hasn’t gotten enough of a chance. Either way, he should at least have a better grasp of the playbook this season with another year in the system. Some of the coaches have changed but the system will remain the same so improvement is certainly possible. Ultimately, Savage has talent but there really isn’t enough information to make any meaningful value judgments at this point."

Dear Drew: MORE, MORE, MORE! – by Drew Dougherty of HoustonTexans.com

"Dear Drew: Who will the Texans use to return punts and kickoffs this season?-From Doug EmisonAs I said in the video above, there’s a good chance Damaris Johnson is the guy to watch after OTAs and minicamp. But it’s certainly a fluid deal, and plenty of other players might get looks at each return spot through training camp, the preseason and even the regualr season as well.When Bill O’Brien was asked about it, he reiterated that Keshawn Martin was in the mix, as he’s handled those duties since the middle of 2012. But the head coach has also been impressed by a few other names.“We’ve got two rookies that are back there fielding punts in (Chandler) Worthy and (Keith) Mumphery,” O’Brien said. “We’ve got D.J. (Damaris Johnson) back there. Cecil Shorts has fielded punts. Arian Foster has fielded punts, so we’ve used a number of guys back there.”Dear Drew: Who at this point do you see in getting the starting QB position?-From Fernando Puro SanchezRyan Mallett and Brian Hoyerduked it out in OTAs and minicamp, and both have the offense running at a quicker tempo than this time a year ago.I think after the first preseason game we’ll find out who the guy is.Neither one would be a suprise to me."

Next: J.J. Watt Tells Texans Rookies To Strive For Greatness